


Jackaloping

by rowanthestrange_yugihell



Series: Ryou & The Cryptids [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Cryptids, For Once It Sounds Darker Than It Is, Hallucinations, Heartshipping, M/M, Mental Illness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2017-04-19
Packaged: 2018-10-21 00:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10673862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowanthestrange_yugihell/pseuds/rowanthestrange_yugihell
Summary: “Of course it is happening inside your head … but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”In which Ryou gives tea to creatures of varying levels of existence, plays some games, and dislikes a particular variety of lemon drops.





	Jackaloping

* * *

  


The monsters are all in Ryou’s mind. He knows this, is clear on this, is not confused in any way about this.

He hasn’t quite worked out how to broach the idea with his psychiatrist yet, it took him long enough to explain everything else in a non-magical way. He doesn’t want to get sectioned.

Besides, they don’t worry him. People worry him. Monsters not so much.

  


* * *

  


Some of the creatures are barely even there. A shadow in the corner of your eye, a burly not-quite-human standing in a dark corner, the hint of a tail sliding through the gap in a closing door.

Sometimes he leaves things out for them.

Tea is left undrank, food uneaten. Once he leaves a comfy blanket out for the creature that’s making a cold spot between the couch and the TV. The next morning it’s folded and placed near his door.

It does somewhat confuse the whole ‘in your head’ thing, but he works with it. 

  


* * *

  


Sometimes the creatures are far more terrifying. Well they _should_ be terrifying.

Ryou wakes to find that there’s a surprisingly tall individual standing next to him.

It should just be sleep paralysis, except when he tries to move, his body clumsily obeys. He blinks at the creature.

“Poke.” Ryou says drowsily, and shifts his hand out from under the warm blankets to prod the creature with one finger. It slides straight through. He contents himself with looking at the thing. Shifting blackness instead of skin, no discernible features at all, except for some very white teeth. The chink of moonlight coming through the gap in the curtains glints off the over-long bared canines. He wants to lick them.

He tells the creature as much.

It’s apparently the wrong thing, because in the next blink, it’s gone.

Typical.

  


* * *

  


Sometimes they’re just _there_.

At first he thinks that a rabbit has somehow made it in while he had the door open. 

It wouldn’t be the first time something has got in, trying to escape the sun and the muggy heat. The crows were very real, and in return for a few days roost-and-board, they drop him off little presents now and again. Keyrings mostly. Occasionally with keys still on them. If the police ever raid his house, he’s going to be in trouble - given the Spirit, it’s a miracle he’s not in jail already.

The rabbit gives him a very un-rabbity look when he opens the door for it. When he gets close enough to think about giving it a little nudge with his foot he notices the antlers.

Jabberwock? No, that’s a dragon. Jackanapes? No, monkey…

“Jackalope.” He says at last. 

The Jackalope looks as if it’ll bite off his toes if he gets any nearer with his foot. Possibly gore him.

“Can I get you some tea? I don’t have anything stronger.”

It leaves the saucer he offers, but spreads itself out on the couch contentedly, horns digging into a pillow.

The Jackalope stays and binge watches anime with him. It sings along with the openings and gets annoyed if he skips the credits.

  


* * *

  


Ryou writes about them occasionally. Vaguely sorting them into groups. Cryptids like the Jackalope. Ghosts. Urban legends. Possible aliens. 

He makes up stories for them, where they came from or who they are, and reads them out to see if they like it or not. They might get angry - snarl or snap, in which case he changes the story until they seem happy. They might enjoy it, like the crab creature that bounced excitedly every time he created a new heroic deed it had done. Often they ignore him, which is fine too.

Occasionally he’s able to place them. He’s seeing this because he was thinking about this book, this album cover, this ghost story he told when he was seven.

He sees the silhouette of a tentacle - waving, beckoning behind the shower curtain.

“Undertale.” Ryou says into the dark bathroom, slightly disappointed.

The shadow vanishes before he has chance to pull back the curtain and reveal nothing there. 

He always feels a bit guilty calling them out like that.

  


* * *

  


The nightmares are relentless. Always the Spirit, always. Hurting him, hurting his friends, his family. His mind coming up with new and more horrifying scenarios, or else letting him relive old ones, again and again.

It’s a relief to wake up and see a monster. It proves he’s still in his own brain.

  


* * *

  


Yugi might be a cryptid.

He makes Ryou feel a degree of comfort that only those creatures usually do; Ryou finds himself drawn to him, as he does with the monsters. 

And he _glows_.

It’s gold and warm and lovely and no-one else seems to do it. At first he assumes it’s a side-effect of the Millennium Puzzle and the Pharaoh, but even long after the ceremony it still shimmers around him.

Sort of.

It becomes a nasty bright yellow that reminds Ryou of the lemon drops he had as a child that always gave him a headache. 

It takes a few weeks before he realises it shifts. A dark silver when he turns up unannounced to pick up a game from the shop, that becomes the harsh lemon colour as soon as Yugi realises he’s there and smiles, not quite reaching his eyes. Almost back to gold again when the entire gang is sat around the TV watching Creepshow (not one of Romero’s best in Ryou’s opinion) while Yugi happily explains the special effects without so much as a flinch at the gruesome scenes.

It’s almost like a cheat code he can’t turn off. When is Yugi just pretending to be happy? The answer is apparently quite a lot.

  


* * *

  


There’s a quiet knock at the door that pulls him out of his drowsing.

02:33

At this time of the night it could only be two things. A) The police, who are apparently polite enough to not want to wake the neighbours, or B) A cryptid who can’t phase through walls but fancies a bit of company.

He stumbles to the door. Always best to be polite about these things, even if that politeness doesn’t extend to putting on proper clothes. The moment he opens it, he flinches back, hand over his eyes.

Option B it is then.

Yugi’s standing with some sort of game box, a fixed smile and the most painfully fluorescent aura Ryou’s ever seen from him. He opens the door wider and tries to say something like ‘Hello, please do come in’, but it comes out a sleepy set of slurred syllables.

Yugi takes his shoes off, and the glow flickers like a dying light bulb.

“Sorry, I uh, hoped you wouldn’t be asleep.” Yugi says, not meeting his eyes. It’s a fair assumption. He doesn’t seem the type to sleep. Or maybe Yugi was just hoping they’re the same in that way too.

“I just…” He trails off. Ryou doesn’t find out ‘just’ what, as the storm cloud of grey finally rolls over Yugi. His shoulders drop and he lets the game fall to his side, pieces sliding with a clatter. The aura seems dark enough that it swallows the light around it.

Ryou’s not entirely sure what to do when your depressed best friend turns up at two in the morning. But at least he has a procedure for a cryptid at the door. 

“Can I get you some tea? I don’t have anything stronger.”

  


* * *

  


The game lies forgotten on the side, its use as an excuse to come round fulfilled. They spend the rest of the night knocking out every video game that Ryou owns with a co-op mode.

They’re on their fifth go of the last boss on Nightmare, when Yugi brings up the cold patch of air next to him. Ryou offers to swap places.

“There’s a ghost. I think they like video games.” He says. Yugi stares at him. He had intended to tell him an excuse about the pipes - this is what happens when you stay up until sunrise.

The boss enters its final form, and their attention is pulled back to the screen.

The Jackalope, bathed in Yugi’s now silvery light, sings along to the battle music. 

  


* * *

  


It’s the first of many visits. Yugi doesn’t turn up a vivid yellow any more, and Ryou doesn’t mind if he’s not as upbeat as usual. They watch horror movies and play video games (and board games, and card games, and the random games that - on a good day - Yugi can come up with as easily as breathing). On the darker days he’ll sit and write stories about the monsters, keeping Yugi company as he lies on the couch listlessly, letting the depression win a round.

Ryou tells Yugi about the things he sees that no-one else can. Yugi tells Ryou about the things he no longer does. Ryou can’t imagine wanting someone else living inside him again - but he does understand feeling alone.

He tells Yugi his theory about him being a cryptid and realises how long it’s been since he’s seen Yugi properly laugh like that.

Eventually the aura seems to settle itself on the colour of a nice, but overcast day. Occasional storms. Occasionally the warm gold of the sun peaking through again.

  


* * *

  


“Would you date a monster?” Yugi asks thoughtfully, pushing a wooden piece across the board two squares.

“Maybe.” Ryou replies, not really thinking his move through. Yugi’s already won.

“Cuddle a creature?” Yugi says surprisingly seriously, rolling the dice and crossing the line.

“Probably.” Ryou takes his turn anyway and finally gets there.

“Kiss a cryptid?” He asks. Ryou looks up and sees Yugi’s questioning look behind a rose gold glow.

Oh.

“ _Definitely_.”

  


**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [My Heart Is A Ghost Town (All Its Roads Lead To You)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10774944) by [evexe-n (manatsuko)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manatsuko/pseuds/evexe-n)




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